The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (880) Trooper Alan Gordon McMartin, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Gerard Pratt, the story for this day was on (880) Trooper Alan Gordon McMartin, 2nd Light Horse Regiment, First World War.

880 Trooper Alan Gordon McMartin, 2nd Light Horse Regiment
DOW 1 November 1917

Today we remember and pay tribute to Trooper Allan Gordon McMartin.

Allan Mc Martin was born in 1893 at Tyrie Station , near Dandaloo in New South Wales. The son of Robert and Harriette McMartin, he grew up in the Richmond area and attended North Richmond Public School.

By the beginning of the First World War, the McMartin family had moved to a new property, known as “Alba”, at Kaimkillenbun, near Dalby in Queensland. Here, McMartin worked as a station hand with his father and older brother Hugh.

After enlisting in the First Australian Imperial Force on 23 December 1914, McMartin went through a brief period of training at Enoggera, and was allocated to the 4th reinforcements to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment.

He embarked from Brisbane with other reinforcements on 8 April 1915 aboard the transport ship Star of England, bound for Egypt.

After several months training in the desert, he was sent to Gallipoli where he joined the 2nd Light Horse Regiment on 6 August, the day the attack on Lone Pine began.

When he reached his unit’s positions, he was posted to B Squadron and reunited with his brother Hugh. Days later Hugh was commissioned with the rank of second lieutenant. In mid-September Hugh was evacuated via Malta to England, suffering with dysentery. At the end of the month Alan McMartin was evacuated to Malta suffering from the same ailment.

With the end of the Gallipoli campaign in December, McMartin was transported to England, admitted to the 3rd General Hospital at Wandsworth and once again reunited with his brother.

By April 1916 Hugh’s health had not improved and he was sent home to Australia and discharged as medically unfit.

Alan McMartin returned to Egypt in June and returned to the 2nd Light Horse Regiment, then at Romani, at the end of July. A little over a week later, McMartin took part in his first major battle when on the night of 3/4 August Ottoman troops attacked Australian and British positions at Romani in an attempt to reach the Suez Canal.

This attack was soundly defeated, and after the battle, the 2nd Light Horse Regiment was withdrawn to rest and refit. It was back in action by December, taking part in the battles of Magdhaba and Rafa.

By April 1917 the British advance had reached Gaza. Two disastrous battles were fought with the British-led forces suffering heavy casualties. McMartin and the 2nd Light Horse took part in the second of the battles as the Allies suffered heavy losses.

On 31 October an attack was launched on the town of Beersheba. In the early afternoon, the 2nd Light Horse Regiment was sent to assist the New Zealanders’ attack on Tel el Saba, a dominant hill which covered the approach to Beersheba.

During their advance, the men came under Ottoman shell-fire and after suffering casualties they took cover in nearby mud huts. They were forced out soon after by more artillery fire, this time from British guns. Further casualties were sustained during the bombardment, but the attack on Tel el Saba was successful and the famous charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade captured Beersheba soon after.

The 2nd Light Horse Regiment’s war diary entry for 31 October stated that one officer and one other rank had been killed and two officers and 11 other ranks had been wounded. Amongst the wounded was McMartin, who was recorded as being “dangerously wounded”. Sadly, his wounds proved to be mortal and he died the following day. He was 24 years old.

McMartin was initially laid to rest under a gum tree near the Beersheba Railway Station, but after the war, his remains were exhumed and reinterred in the Beersheba Military Cemetery.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Trooper Allan Gordon McMartin, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section